Warning over ignoring employee mental health

Professor Allan Fels, chair of the National Mental Health Commission, supports initiatives to appeal to finance executives by discussing the impact of mental health management on productivity at work.
Photo: Alex Elinghausen

by
Sally Rose

Chartered Secretaries Australia are collaborating with the National Mental Health Commission to raise awareness of the governance risks and loss of productivity caused by a reluctance to openly manage mental health in the workplace.

In its community consultations the commission has been hearing from people “who have managed to struggle on turning up to work through bouts of mental illness without anyone noticing but not actually doing anything productive for four to six weeks at a time", says the chair.

Chartered Secretaries Australia (CSA) believes mental health is a key governance and risk management issue. But the peak body’s chief executive
Tim Sheehy
is frustrated its members are not prioritising it.

In April, CSA issued a media release titled “Mental health not on the corporate risk radar", in response to the poor response rate and discouraging results from its member survey on the topic. On Thursday October 11, Fels was one of the speakers at a CSA luncheon with the theme healthy mind, healthy bottom line. A disappointing turnout of CSA members indicated mental health is still not on the corporate governance risk radar six months later, says Sheehy.

The NMHC is working with a range of other industry bodies, including the Business Council of Australia and the Council of Small Business Australia, to improve awareness among employers of the link between mental health and productivity.

“Recent legislative changes mean employers now have a greater duty of care manage mental health in the workplace," said Rachel Clements, director of psychological services at the Centre for Corporate Health. Companies are now obligated to provide better staff training and intervene if made aware of a risk to an employee’s mental health.

People at the very serious end of the spectrum, living with conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are only about 3 per cent of the population. The NMHC wants to improve the employment participation rate for people in this group, says Fels.

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It is far more likely people could have ‘common mental disorders’, which includes conditions such as periodic anxiety or depression in varying degrees of severity. “Those people tend to be in jobs, often they are high performers, and for them and their employers mental health management is a productivity issue," says Fels.

“Talking openly about mental health has become more prominent in wider society but it is still taboo in many workplaces," says Fels. He wants employers to do more to encourage openness. “Many people fear disclosing a mental health problem will affect their employment prospects," he says.

“Many HR issues are really a symptom of mental health issues," says Clements. “Some things are personality issues. Some things are culture issues. Many people with mental health issues look very successful and are very good at masking their symptoms."

“There is evidence that companies implementing workplace mental health programs have a better bottom line," says Jack Heath, executive director SANE Australia. “Citigroup have found it has reduced the cost of their insurance with Allianz," he says.

Having a policy is important because it gives managers guidance on how to start conversations. “Many managers say they see someone has a problem but don’t know what to do so they just step back and do nothing instead," says Heath. “Often this results in the staff member eventually being performance managed out of the organisation. That has a cost, as does recruiting and training somebody new.“

Leadership needs to come from the c-suite of executives, not just HR manager, so non-profits and health providers need to focus on appealing to that audience. “If it’s possible to appeal to them through the bottom line then why not?" says Heath. “Business can save some money and if we can save a few lives along the way then that’s a bonus."

“Everyone has a role to play. It is impossible to outsource responsibility for it all to one ‘mental health person’," says Therese Fitzpatrick, workplace program leader at Beyond Blue. “Sometimes champions come from unexpected places."

Starting conversations from a place of concern rather than formal performance management will encourage more disclosure and help manage the risks of mental illness to the individual and the business, she says.

To meet their obligations and reduce their productivity and governance risks, businesses should begin by making sure they have taken steps to raise awareness, have a prevention strategy and participate in early intervention.

Fitzpatrick also recommends putting links to information about mental health management and services on the company intranet, and getting involved with big public events such as RUOK day or national mental health week – easy ways to begin improving corporate governance standards.